1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to buoys and, more particularly, to a buoy drilling anchoring system including a retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device and at least one anchorable marker buoy assembly anchorable into the earth's surface underwater. The retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device is adapted to anchor in the earth's surface underwater at least one anchorable marker buoy assembly having an earth penetratable anchor means and is retrievable from underwater after the anchorable marker buoy assembly is anchored for subsequent use thereof. Thereby, a single retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device can be used to anchor a plurality of anchorable marker buoy assemblies such as used to mark the underwater locations for placement of cables or pipelines such as without limitation, a gas pipeline and an oil pipeline.
2. General Background
Marker buoys have been deployed to mark locations in a fluid medium. Some marker buoys merely float in water to mark a location but have no means to be secured to a particular underwater location to fixedly mark such location. The buoyant properties of the marker buoys, which are not fixedly secured to a underwater location, can not maintain a particular underwater location due to water turbulence and/or flow pattern.
Other marker buoys used presently used to mark locations for cable or pipeline laying, often utilize weights such as cement blocks to anchor the marker buoys. In the past, if the cement blocks were not retrieved from the earth's surface underwater, nets of fisherman and trawlers can be damaged when passed over the cement blocks.
Another drawback with conventional marker buoys using cement blocks, as an anchoring means, is that 50,000 buoys may be required to adequately mark the locations for placing the cable or pipeline on the earth's surface underwater. As can be readily seen, the vessel used to deploy the 50,000 mark buoys must be of a sufficient size to store 50,000 cement blocks. Furthermore, the labors can become quickly fatigued or injury when dropping overboard the cement blocks of the 50,000 buoys. Nevertheless, retrieving the cement blocks can be hazardous.
Several apparatuses have been patented which are aimed at anchoring drilling devices which anchor into the earth's surface underwater an earth penetratable anchor. However, most of the patents are for anchoring pipelines into the earth's surface underwater.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,812, issued to Hollander, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANCHORING OFFSHORE PIPELINES" discloses an apparatus for securing a pipe to the earthen surface underlying a body of water. The apparatus includes an anchor-driving device or driver and an anchoring assembly adapted to be coupled to the anchor-driving device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,105, issued to Cannon, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANCHORING UNDERWATER PIPELINES"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,479,830, issued to Ostarly, entitled "ANCHORING MACHINE"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,034, issued to Suttles, entitled "UNDERWATER PIPE ANCHORING DEVICE"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,493, issued to "PIPELINE ANCHOR HOOK"; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,552, issued to Johannesson et al., entitled "PIPELINE ANCHOR APPARATUS" also disclose the use of screw-type anchors which are screwed into the earth's surface underwater.
Other patents in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,566, issued to Scodino, entitled "APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING PIPES SUSPENDED OVER DEPRESSIONS IN THE SEA BED, INCLUDING THOSE SITUATED AT GREAT DEPTH, AND THE METHOD FOR INSTALLING IT"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,330, issued to Farmer, entitled "TORSIONALLY INSTALLED ANODE AND EARTH ANCHOR/PENETRATOR"; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,069, issued to Dziedzic, entitled "TUBULAR SOCKET DRIVE EARTH ANCHOR" all of which disclose various types of anchors driven into the earth's surface underwater. However, none of the above teach a buoy drilling anchoring system including a retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device and at least one anchorable marker buoy assembly anchorable into the earth's surface underwater. Furthermore, none of the above teach that the retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device is adapted to anchor in the earth's surface underwater at least one anchorable marker buoy assembly having an earth penetratable anchor means and is retrievable from underwater after the anchorable marker buoy assembly is anchored for subsequent use thereof. Thereby, a single retrievable buoy anchoring drilling device can be used to anchor a plurality of anchorable marker buoy assemblies such as used to mark the underwater locations for placement of cables or pipelines such as without limitation, a gas pipeline and an oil pipeline.
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially different in structure, methodology and approach from that of known marker buoys.